LONDON — You sometimes wonder what goes through a footballer's head. When Emmanuel Adebayor scored for Manchester City in its 4-2 win over his former club Arsenal at Eastlands last September, why did he think that running the length of the field to celebrate on his knees in front of the traveling fans was a good idea?

Was this really a spontaneous outpouring of joy, a natural way of scoring against your ex-club or a pre-meditated act of stupidity that could have incited crowd trouble?

The Football Association fined Adebayor £25,000 for his excesses. For good measure, Adebayor was also sent off in the game for stomping on Robin van Persie.